Ok, folks. This is too early to post but I’m searching for ideas. Below is what I did and I just felt it was a little sweet for an alfredo.
Test recipe: EZ cashew alfredo
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 2 heaping cups dry cashews
- 3/4 c pine nuts
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 t pepper
- 1 t salt
- 1/4 t cayenne
- 1/8 t fennel
- 1 T chia seeds, ground
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 T dried basil
- 1 pound dried pasta
- rehydrated and chopped dried tomatoes
- chopped fresh basil
Pasta:
—boil and drain, set aside
Sauce:
—In a high-speed blender (Blendtec is what I use), blend the sauce ingredients on soup mode until hot.
Garnish:
—fresh chopped basil and reconstituted dried and chopped tomatoes
So, what do y’all think? Should I try pine nuts or walnuts instead of cashews? I’m wondering if it’s the cashews that was too sweet.
January 22, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Thanks! In my pre-vegan days I used to enjoy Alfredo too. This sounds good, and a LOT healthier! If you want the taste a bit truer to the original, how about adding some nutritional yeast? Also, if you want to play with the texture you could add a tspn of corn starch to thicken it up like a cheesy sauce.
January 23, 2012 at 7:21 am
i dont find cashews to be sweet. maybe try veg stock instead of water… to add some savory that might cancel out the sweet? also you could play with the lemon juice ratio… i can’t really imagine what in that dish would be sweet though… looks great!
February 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm
It’s sort of cheating, but I usually toss in some vegan parmesan topping, since the cheesiness is an important part of the traditional Alfredo flavour. Nutritional yeast would work too, I just like the saltiness of the parm.
I find basil can add sweetness, maybe you could try swapping half of it for parsley or something?